I think after reading and looking at all the BB,tables etc, that you talented folks have done, I've completely confused myself with what I want to do.

At the moment I am tumbling broken wine bottles to mosaic onto backeboard in the shape of a gecko. I am just tumbling the glass enough to get rid of the sharp edges. I have, however, just noticed that there is not a big difference between my light green wine bottles and my yellowish bottles, Maybe by the time I'm done, I'll have thought if something to do. And many, many thanks to Denimangle for her tuitorials on making Sea Glass. Wow...they have helped greatly!

Sadly, sort of, I inherited 6 different sets of dinnerware, so hope to smash and put on a big round fiberglass table that is 49 years old. My neighbor loved to entertain, and I was given these sets by her husband: green, blue, yellow ,red, white, and purple dishes. Plus some with a beautiful yellow sunflower with blue trim... Gorgeous! And I have bought different pieces in thrift stores, so I have guite a lot off stuff to use, so I want to ensure that I use it correctly. Oh, and he gave me a whole container of tumbled rocks from when his kid was little. So I am going to copy J222's idea and glue them onto a pot.

Sorry, I;m so long, my mind just keeps racing...I don't have any pictures yet, as I've not done anything...Oh wait I did do the succculents on crocs, let;'s see if i can get that pic in...

keeping, I hope you're still following this thread. I'm new too, so I sympathize with your confusion. I've looked at this forum and also the one on Gardenweb - they have a lot of talented and helpful people on the stained glass forum. I'm including a link for tips on mosaic patio tops - I'm not an expert but I worry about that weight on an old patio table. You also need to use different bonding agents for something that's outdoors.

In spite of all the reading I've done on the internet and in books, I've found that taking a class is my only way to learn correct methods. I've never used dinnerware, but have read that some types are extremely difficult to break.

I'll confess to (some) of my beginner's mistakes - I wasn't even holding the wheeled glass cutter correctly and kept on wondering why all my cut glass had curves. I bought a knife sharpener to take the jagged edges off and was told by my instructor that glass dust is extremely hard on your lungs.

I didn't know how to use tile nippers either and was shocked the first time I used those when the tile exploded into tiny shards that went everywhere.

I see beautiful works displayed on the forums, and I know they take a lot of time and energy, but I rarely hear about mistakes and projects gone bad.

I have no prior artistic history (except in high school) and although I think I'm pretty brave in trying new things, my projects are far from perfect. They do bring me joy in that they're mine and I designed them. Here is the website for tabletops - http://www.mosaicartsupply.com/ I hope this helps! There's a lot to learn!

Hi Keepingactive,
Poor darling of course your confused as you see every one has their own way of doing mosaic's -- I only use tiles and the odd decoration later after you have done a few things you will find whate material works for you .
All I do is lay paper - down place tile on- cover tile wth old towel -then smash with hammer to the size I want to work with I rub around piece of tile on sand paper which I have tacked on the work bench then glue on to the pot. I dont use nippers or cutters . I find it only takes about 2 hour to cover a pot but I leave over night to dry so grout the next day about a hour is all it takes to grout and clean and polish.
I like to use black grout .
elaine.

drtdgr,
Thank you for leading me to that site. (http://www.mosaicartsupply.com). At first I thought it was only to purchase tiles, etc. But I thought oh what the heck.

What a fantastic site!! It has a question and answer section that is fabulous, and answers questions even I didn't have.
I am so impressed with this site, that they are so knowledgeable and willing to share their knowledge (yes, I know that is to get me to buy their stuff, that I am contemplating just buying everything I may need from them. Hmmm, I guess it worked!
I have printed all the questions and answers and but them in a notebook (23 pages), plus I've added all the little tips I've gotten from all the DGers. So, now it's time to stop being scared and just plow into my projects., and learn f om my own mistakes .

Elaine,
Golly, were your ears burning? I was telling my neighbor that I spent the day Thrift Shop shopping, and she mentioned that she needed to go into the town that I was in to drop off some of her sons electric guitars to be fixed. I had mentioned that a gal on a site that I visit did mosaic on guitars and that they are just goregeous., but I didn;t remember if you did any on electric guitars. If I remember correctly ,and most of the time, I don't remember at all, so if I'm wrong, my apologies to whoever is the correct person...did you also do the garden edging? I think the edging, pots and stepping stones is what piqued my interest, and none of which I have done! Using sand paper on the back of tile is an excellent hint...one I would not have thought of. I am go geared up now that i think I just might start my dish smashing next week and try to do the two largest pots that I want to mosaic with the dishes. I think people are tired of hearing what I am going to do, they need to see something done!

Hi Sue ,
No I have not done any Electric guitars here is a old pic. of my guitars hanging in the studio .
Yes the stepping stones and edging pots and circles .
Not the back of the tiles around the sharp edge and pointed parts do the edge so no cut
fingers when grouting.
I have a mirror hanging above the work bench this helps to see how things look from a distance
good luck when you start - When I mosaic- I find there is no time to stress about other things -just enjoy whate your doing and have fun nice happy music is great if your smashing material hit to the beat L.O. L------elaine
Boo Boo- Dont know whate the second pic. is hope its a mosiac.

Sue, I'm glad you found answers to your questions! I have ordered from mosaic art supplies, and I find the prices reasonable, but the shipping costs are so high.

(I'm not associated with them in any other way.) Grout and glue (Weldbond is great!), thinset and concrete, hangers, hardibacker, etc. are all found at Home Depot or Ace hardware.

I think thrift shops are a great place to find objects for mosaics.

I love going up to Bedrock Industries in Seattle where they collect and recycle glass. Their recycled stained glass is $4.00 a pound. I'm like a crow, I love to collect shiny colorful objects and stash them in my spare bedroom for future projects!

Anyway, please keep us updated. I'll get brave too, and post some of the stepping stones I've done. Susan

keepingactive wrote:I think after reading and looking at all the BB,tables etc, that you talented folks have done, I've completely confused myself with what I want to do.

At the moment I am tumbling broken wine bottles to mosaic onto backeboard in the shape of a gecko. I am just tumbling the glass enough to get rid of the sharp edges. I have, however, just noticed that there is not a big difference between my light green wine bottles and my yellowish bottles, Maybe by the time I'm done, I'll have thought if something to do. And many, many thanks to Denimangle for her tuitorials on making Sea Glass. Wow...they have helped greatly!

Sadly, sort of, I inherited 6 different sets of dinnerware, so hope to smash and put on a big round fiberglass table that is 49 years old. My neighbor loved to entertain, and I was given these sets by her husband: green, blue, yellow ,red, white, and purple dishes. Plus some with a beautiful yellow sunflower with blue trim... Gorgeous! And I have bought different pieces in thrift stores, so I have guite a lot off stuff to use, so I want to ensure that I use it correctly. Oh, and he gave me a whole container of tumbled rocks from when his kid was little. So I am going to copy J222's idea and glue them onto a pot.

Sorry, I;m so long, my mind just keeps racing...I don't have any pictures yet, as I've not done anything...Oh wait I did do the succculents on crocs, let;'s see if i can get that pic in...

Sounds like you have a treasure trove of goodies to play with. There are heaps of forums on and off Dave's Garden to give you insight. I belong to another one in Oz - I love the sound of the colours you have to play with. Happy Mosaicing! My group at the moment is "mosaic_addicts group" - Sandy is the teacher and she is just faboulous. You can also connect with her on Facebook.

sammut wrote: Hi Sue ,
No I have not done any Electric guitars here is a old pic. of my guitars hanging in the studio .
Yes the stepping stones and edging pots and circles .
Not the back of the tiles around the sharp edge and pointed parts do the edge so no cut
fingers when grouting.
I have a mirror hanging above the work bench this helps to see how things look from a distance
good luck when you start - When I mosaic- I find there is no time to stress about other things -just enjoy whate your doing and have fun nice happy music is great if your smashing material hit to the beat L.O. L------elaine
Boo Boo- Dont know whate the second pic. is hope its a mosiac.

Your guitars are the best I have seen. I note there is even a Banjo! I love the mirror over the workbench. Wonderful idea! I did invest in a fleuro light from our recycling centre. It was a bargain, heavy duty and I can move it back and forth, up and down.